In Queens, New York, Melinda Katz, the Queens District Attorney, has submitted an appeal to the court to annul the verdicts of 46 alleged perpetrators, implicating retired NYPD Detective James Donovan. Donovan was found guilty of giving false testimony in 2023. A thorough investigation by the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) has led to this move. These withdrawals, however, arose from identified Constitutional errors, not purely on the grounds of actual innocence.
Katz communicated her intentions saying, ‘My proposal to the court is to invalidate and dismiss 46 criminal cases in which retired Detective James Donovan was the chief testifier. We cannot uphold a verdict where the pivotal witness was a law enforcement officer found guilty of an offense that irrevocably damaged his believability.’
The CIU, once it had identified the pertinent cases, sought a collaboration with the Legal Aid Wrongful Conviction Unit. Their joint endeavor was to submit collective petitions to reverse these convictions. The Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice, Joanne Watters, acceded to these petitions, culminating in the discharge of all 46 accusations.
Per the documents filed with the court, Donovan acknowledged his guilt for perjury in the third degree during a court session presided over by Queens Supreme Court Justice Anthony Battisti in May 2023.
In a case in August 2021, Donovan provided inaccurate testimony, affirming that he had apprehended a sought-after individual in November 2020, while also alleging to have discovered a loaded firearm during the arrest. However, further investigation revealed that Donovan had neither made the arrest nor seen the firearm. This revelation led to the negation of the firearm charges against the involved individual.
Prompted by Donovan’s perjury conviction, the CIU undertook a review of Donovan’s cases, which led to the recognition and dismissal of these 46 cases.
From the time of its establishment in 2020, the Conviction Integrity Unit has successfully reversed 148 convictions. The primary reasons for this astonishing number include 132 cases primarily based on the dubious police work of former detectives who were later found guilty of different crimes. The remaining 16 cases were because of recently found evidence or other variables.